Category Archives: playlists

Okay, wow, I haven’t posted in a month. I’m almost done with my finals (thank god) and I get to return to good ol Charlotte in a few days and attempt to make up for lost sleep. Speaking of finals…

I’ve compiled my 50 favorite songs of the year (that were available on Spotify*) in this nice little playlist. Now, it’s organized alphabetically by artist, AKA unranked, so I’m gonna extract my top 7 and write a little more about each of them.

7. Chastity Belt- “Joke”

The first time I listened to Chastity Belt was after my boyfriend dressed up as the band for Halloween (by which I mean he made a cardboard chastity belt and wrote “Chastity Belt” on it). It’s a good thing I did. “Joke” is a gloomy jam, just the way I like them. And the guitar is just so beautiful, especially on the excellent outro.

6. Heems- “Sometimes”

Apparently this was my most-listened track on Spotify this year. After the breakup of Das Racist, Heems’s solo career took off, with song topics ranging from dark drone humor to breakup songs to the simultaneously self-depreciating and energetic “Sometimes.” The track deals with conflicting sides of Heems’s personality, yet it ends on a positive note- “I won’t change, I’m dope,” Heems ultimately declares.

5. Hinds- “Chili Town”

Hinds kinda came out of nowhere, at least in my sphere, but as soon as I heard their debut EP I was in love. They kinda remind me of a more jangly (and Spanish) Vivian Girls. Their songs are all fun and danceable with great guitar tone and overlapping vocals. “Chilli Town” is my favorite; there’s something about the vulnerable lyrics (I am flirting with this guy just to pretend I’m fine/Saliva mixed with lies/My laugh is oversized/Forever yours, right?) that gets me every time.

4. Beach House- “Rough Song”

Depression Cherry who????? Beach House’s surprise release ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’, a whimsical and airy record with a sound most similar to their sophomore release ‘Devotion’, more than made up for what I considered a very disappointing album earlier in the year. “Rough Song” is my favorite cut off the record- delicate and absolutely gorgeous with a hint of sadness.

3. Alex G- “Snot”

I saw Alex G in October and I almost cried when he played this song. It might be the last song on ‘Beach Music,’ but it’s also the best. I don’t even know how to describe how I feel when I hear this song. All I can say is that it makes me super emo in the best way possible.

2. Lilys- “Day of the Monkey”

I know, I know, this is a reissue. But ‘Eccsame the Photon Band’ is my favorite shoegaze album ever EVER. Lilys is a band that knows when to be quiet and when to raise the energy, which is an essential quality in shoegaze. It was hard for me to pick one favorite track off the album, but “Day of the Monkey” is so beautifully layered that I decided on this song.

1. Shopping- “Take It Outside”

Oh my god, I’ve listened to this song SO MANY TIMES and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. I’m willing to fight whoever says it doesn’t have the best opening riff of the year. Shopping is a fairly bare-bones band- bass, drums, and a single guitar (with a tiny sprinkle of synth)- but they are a powerful trio. The lyrics are brief and confrontational- actually, the only lyrics are “Outside, can we take it outside/ you heard me right, you heard me right” and “break it, break it up/ don’t shake it, shake it up.” I know this sounds cheesy as all hell, but the music speaks for itself. When I play “Take It Outside” I picture in great detail a barfight in some dingy pub. A+. I hope a Netflix original or something uses this song in a fight scene someday.

*Bonus non-Spotify favorites: “Alexandra” by Elementals and “Artvocado” by Whalo

Hey, everyone. I’m sure at least a few of you noticed I was gone. Mono, an ungodly amount of homework, and family emergencies don’t mix well. I have had zero time to produce any content in the past few weeks and I really don’t even have time to be writing this right now but I needed a break from biology. So I made this playlist. By the way, did you know that the first part of the human to develop is the anus? Now you do.

I was talking to a friend recently, and we somehow got on the conversation of song length. He was surprised to learn that I had a fair number of songs over seven minutes long in my iTunes library, noting that he didn’t have many longer than four. He didn’t think he had the attention span to listen to such a long song, which sparked the question: how long is a “long song?”

I took some data from the Billboard Hot 100 lists and, using my AP Statistics knowledge, pieced together some answers. My final result was this: to be an outlier, a song had to be around six and a half to seven minutes long.

In honor of this discovery and in order to show off my calculation skills, I’ve compiled a list of my twenty favorite “long songs.”

20. LCD Soundsystem- Dance Yrself Clean

My personal favorite LCD Soundsystem track; it builds up to the perfect groove.

19. Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Monki

I love a good bassline. This track has an eerie feel to it that I like, too.

18. Susanne Sundøfr- Rome

Sundfør is one of my favorite vocalists, and “Rome” is a beautiful example of her work.

If you know anything about me (Julia) it’s probably that I consume a copious amount of the wonderful beverage we call coffee. There is something comforting about it, and it’s always nice to be able to stay awake, too.

If you are a fellow slave to the coffee bean, take the time to listen to the playlist below, which is comprised of songs from throughout time about or referencing coffee. (If you’re a tea person, you can still listen to it.)

Music’s never not been politicized. It’s one of the easiest ways to spread ideas into the mainstream, and in an age when most have access to seemingly infinite numbers of songs, music is an effective carrier.

In light of recent events, I’ve compiled a playlist of some politically-charged songs that I like. Some of them are calls-to-arms, and some of them are harrowing testimonies, but each song is powerful and relevant.

1. Bloc Party- Kettling

Frontman Kele Okereke penned this track about the 2010 student protests in London which occurred as a result of a proposed rise in tuition fees. Though its inspiration is specific, the song’s message is that of widespread revolution.

2. M.I.A- Born Free

The story behind this song is pretty terrifying. M.I.A grew up in Sri Lanka, where her father became a subject of political persecution, the government going so far as to beat her mother in front of her. The family (sans father) eventually fled to England, but M.I.A retains a deep connection to Sri Lankan politics.

3. Kanye West- New Slaves

I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

4. Sonic Youth- Swimsuit Issue

Kim Gordon has the greatest snarl of all time. In “Swimsuit Issue,” she sings about sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, as well as the general sexualization of women- at the end of the song, she names each of the models on the year’s swimsuit issue.

5. The Roots- Don’t Feel Right

My favorite lyric from this song is “Ill, but that’d be too real for TV/ It’s crazy when you too real to be free.” I can’t help but be struck by how relevant it is. I remember seeing a political cartoon about Ferguson the other day- a protester on the ground saying “don’t shoot!” to a cop, and the cop in turn saying “don’t shoot!” to a reporter.

6. The Clash- Washington Bullets

The Clash is pretty much the most political band of all time, so it was hard to pick one song. The title sold me on this one.

7. Nas- If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)

This is a classic. Nas’s ideal future is built on racial equality, fair government procedures, and a higher overall quality of life. He has some more radical ideas too, such as abolishing political imprisonment, but in general, he describes a world most people would want.

8. Lou Reed- Dirty Blvd.

Lou Reed refers to the Statue of Liberty as the “Statue of Bigotry” on this sad, bitter track about poverty and police brutality (hmmmmmm.)

9. Destiny’s Child- Independent Women Part I

Ending the playlist on an uplifting note, the iconic female-empowerment anthem of the 2000s which would only be the start of Beyonce’s incorporation of feminism in music. (See also: ***Flawless, or, even better, ***Flawless (Remix) ft. Nicki Minaj.)

Listen to the playlist here. Let me know in the comments what you’d add!